Discrete one dimensional surface solitons

The propagation of solitons along the interface between two dielectric nonlinear media was investigated theoretically extensively in the 1980s but never realized experimentally. Recently we predicted that the required small index differences between the media and hence solitons can be created at the interface between continuous and periodic discrete media consisting of arrays of weakly coupled waveguides. Our theoretical analysis has predicted the existence of stable solitons with power thresholds both in the centre and at the edge of the Brillouin zone. We have observed both of these discrete surface solitons with power thresholds in both Kerr and quadratically nonlinear media. Spatial solitons with fields in neighboring channels either in phase or pi out of phase with one another have been identified.

[1]  N. Akhmediev,et al.  Excitation of nonlinear surface waves by Gaussian light beams , 1985 .

[2]  W. Tomlinson,et al.  Surface wave at a nonlinear interface. , 1980, Optics letters.

[3]  Mordechai Segev,et al.  Surface lattice solitons. , 2006, Optics letters.

[4]  Stegeman,et al.  Observation of two-dimensional spatial solitary waves in a quadratic medium. , 1995, Physical review letters.

[5]  Alain Hache,et al.  Discrete surface solitons. , 2005, Optics letters.

[6]  F. Lederer,et al.  Observation of discrete quadratic solitons. , 2004, Physical review letters.

[7]  Yu. N. Karamzin,et al.  Nonlinear interaction of diffracted light beams in a medium with quadratic nonlinearity: mutual focusing of beams and limitation on the efficiency of optical frequency converters , 1974 .

[8]  Arnan Mitchell,et al.  Observation of surface gap solitons in semi-infinite waveguide arrays. , 2006, Physical Review Letters.

[9]  G. Stegeman,et al.  Calculations of nonlinear TE waves guided by thin dielectric films bounded by nonlinear media , 1985 .

[10]  D. Mihalache,et al.  Third-Order Nonlinear Electromagnetic TE and TM Guided Waves , 1991 .

[11]  DISCRETE BRIGHT SOLITARY WAVES IN QUADRATICALLY NONLINEAR MEDIA , 1998 .

[12]  J. S. Aitchison,et al.  AlGaAs Below Half Bandgap:. the Silicon of Nonlinear Optical Materials , 1994 .

[13]  D. Christodoulides,et al.  Vector discrete nonlinear surface waves. , 2005, Optics Express.

[14]  Falk Lederer,et al.  A new type of nonlinear slab-guided waves , 1983 .

[15]  M. Stepić,et al.  Observation of staggered surface solitary waves in one-dimensional waveguide arrays. , 2006, Optics letters.

[16]  Yaron Silberberg,et al.  Discretizing light behaviour in linear and nonlinear waveguide lattices , 2003, Nature.

[17]  Y. Kivshar,et al.  Discrete solitons and nonlinear surface modes in semi-infinite waveguide arrays. , 2006, Optics letters.

[18]  Lluis Torner,et al.  Surface gap solitons. , 2006, Physical review letters.

[19]  L. A. Ostrovskiĭ.  Self-action of Light in Crystals , 1967 .

[20]  Wolfgang Sohler,et al.  Observation of discrete quadratic surface solitons. , 2006, Optics express.

[21]  Y. Kivshar,et al.  Surface multi-gap vector solitons. , 2006, Optics express.

[22]  P. Yeh,et al.  Optical surface waves in periodic layered media , 1978 .

[23]  M. M. Fejer,et al.  Recent achievements in domain engineering in lithium niobate and lithium tantalate , 2001 .